�ֲ���ý College squash is perennially one of the strongest small-college programs in America. It is home to five All-Americans and a pair of individual national championships. 

Aaron Morse covers 31 varsity sports for the �ֲ���ý Communications Office as the assistant sports information director. He is not an athlete and he has never played squash. But one day, he decided he wanted to learn how to play.

Squash student-athletes deal with a variety of challenges every day. This was a new one. 

Luckily Vicky Arjoon ’19 of Georgetown, Guyana, and Graham Bonnell ’20 of Southport, Conn., are always happy to teach the sport, even to complete novices.

All the �ֲ���ý squash players teach the kids at Portland Community Squash, in Maine’s largest city.

“When you’re coaching the youth, when you’re coaching the kids down at Portland Community Squash, they’re young, they can run all over,” Bonnell said. “They can do the splits. They’re limber. They’re very flexible.”

Morse is not exactly young and he is definitely not flexible or limber. Does he do the splits? Never.

Nonetheless, Bonnell and Arjoon are ready to help. For them, teaching squash is not only fun, it also has a deeper meaning.

“Honestly, [teaching the sport gives me] a satisfaction that the game is going somewhere,” Arjoon said, “just sort of moving it on from generation to generation. I have a younger sister, I have several other kids who are years younger than me at home, and to pass on my love of the sport to them, I think, is the most satisfying part of it all.”

Something Bonnell loves about squash, he says, is that it’s a sport that has the potential to open doors for “people of all socioeconomic levels and statuses. So if you learn to play squash at a young age, that’s a great route for you to go on to a school such as �ֲ���ý.”

For more information on Portland Community Squash, go to .

A beaded ostrich egg sits on the windowsill of Pat Cosquer’s memento-filled office at the �ֲ���ý Squash Facility, located at 56 Alfred Plourde Parkway in Lewiston.

The elegant egg was a gift to Cosquer ’97 from women’s squash co-captain Lauren Williams ‘16 of Bulawyo, Zimbabwe. Female artists from Ndebele tribes in South Africa and Zimbabwe craft the beading on the eggs by hand.

A beaded ostrich egg sits on the window ledge in Pat Cosquer’s office. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

When Williams arrived at �ֲ���ý in 2013, she had never even visited campus. “For her to physically, emotionally, and mentally take this leap of faith to come to �ֲ���ý was emblematic of the kind of person she is,” Cosquer says. She personified the drive that he identifies with women’s squash at �ֲ���ý. “Just the blind faith and trust she put into squash and me really meant a lot.”

Cosquer received the gift from Williams and her family at graduation. It was “a valuable validation,” he says. “It meant that her experience had been meaningful and worthwhile.” He appreciates that each and every one of his players, domestic or international, could have chosen colleges other than �ֲ���ý and sports other than squash. “It’s a really special decision that I don’t ever take for granted.”

Cosquer’s goal as coach of �ֲ���ý squash is for his sport to reflect the ethos of the college. “The more students from around the world with diverse backgrounds, socioeconomic status, race, and religion we can expose each other to,” he says, the deeper the experience.

Cosquer poses with the gift from a former player, now a history teacher and a squash and tennis coach. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“What we’re sort of doing here,” he says, is asking individuals with different interests and backgrounds and orientations to “adapt to situations that may be uncomfortable for them. In a way we’re sort of preparing young people for life after �ֲ���ý, for life after squash, for adulthood.” That preparation goes far beyond winning squash matches, “honoring the rigors and stresses of everyday life as a college student.”

A four-year letterwinner in squash and baseball, Cosquer, a 1997 �ֲ���ý graduate, amassed a 60-22 individual squash record and was team captain and team MVP his senior year under Hall of Fame coach George Wigton.

The beaded ostrich egg represents traditional Zimbabwean artwork dating back to medieval times. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

As Cosquer glances around his small office located off the center’s squash courts, he thinks about the progression his program has made. His appreciation for Williams, now a history teacher and head coach of girls’ squash and tennis at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn., represents his pride in all of his players, many of whom go on to coach and mentor.

“I’m proud of who they were when they were here. I’m more proud of who they’ve become.”

With generous funding from alumni and parents, �ֲ���ý College will add a pivotal sixth new court to the �ֲ���ý Squash Center and undertake significant facility improvements, Director of Athletics Kevin McHugh announced on Sept. 22.

Two-time NESCAC Player of the Year Ahmed Abdel Khalek ’16 takes on a player from Amherst College at the �ֲ���ý Squash Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“Our squash program is among the most competitive in the country, and support from our alumni and parents will enhance the experience for our players while contributing to that excellent reputation,” said McHugh.

The squash center upgrades will be completely donor-funded, with �ֲ���ý families contributing all of the $260,000 needed for the project, scheduled for completion in late October.

The addition of the sixth court, a refurbished U.S. Open Championship court from McWIL Courts whose glass walls give spectators a 360-degree view, will greatly improve the college’s ability to host tournaments, McHugh said. This significant gift will also fund a new team room and renovations to existing locker room facilities and spectator seating.

Avery and Allison Bourke, the parents of a senior squash player and lead donors to the project, emphasized the relationship between excellence in campus facilities and excellence in student performance.

“It has been said whether you think you can or whether you think you ������’t, you’re right,” Avery Bourke noted. “We hope that this new court will be a showcase for �ֲ���ý players who know they can.”

Trustee and fellow lead donor Christopher Gorayeb ’80 put it simply. “As alumni, we should recognize an obligation to assist �ֲ���ý wherever there is a need. I am happy to do so with this project.”

Also making a significant philanthropic contribution to the project are the families of Walter and Kim Cabot P’11, P’13, P’17 and Marty and Nancy Cannon P’15.

For a program that already competes at an elite level — the women’s team was ranked 12th in the nation in 2014 and the men’s, 13th — “this gift is a game-changer,” said head coach Pat Cosquer ’97.

Cosquer said that the new court will improve tournament play at �ֲ���ý considerably. Most of today’s college squash matches use a three-court system, where the No. 7, 8 and 9 matches are played on one court; 4, 5, 6 matches on a second court; and 1, 2, 3 matches on a third court. So host colleges with six courts can offer men’s and women’s matches simultaneously on three courts each.

�ֲ���ý’ five-court setup, however, did not allow this efficient style of play, said Cosquer. By adding a sixth court, the squash program shortens match play by 90 minutes, giving students more time for other commitments.

“Our athletes train at a high level, but they are students first,” he said. “We’re always mindful of how much time we ask them to spend away from academics.”

The court also gives �ֲ���ý the capacity to host more matches, reducing the need to travel and potentially saving the college several thousand dollars annually.

Cosquer, who currently conducts squash camps in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey, says that the new court will make it possible to host on-campus youth tournaments and camps, programs that can make valuable connections with potential �ֲ���ý students.

The �ֲ���ý men’s squash team capped an excellent season by going 2-1 at the College Squash Association Team Nationals last weekend at Princeton University, finishing 11th in the country with wins over Navy and Franklin & Marshall and a narrow 5-4 loss to Western Ontario, the top seed in the Hoehn Cup “B” Division in which the Bobcats were entered.

The key to the Bobcats’ success was their depth, exhibited best when they won at positions 5 through 9 in defeating F&M for 11th place, meanwhile avenging a 5-4 loss to the same opponent earlier in the season.

No Bobcat was more effective at his position than senior Marc Taggart (Skippack, Pa.), who went 3-0 on the weekend at the No. 8 position by defeating Navy’s Tommy McNamara in three games, Western Ontario’s Rafik Bhaloo in three games and, in the final match of his career, outlasting F&M’s Ben Lurio in five games.

For the season, Taggart compiled a 16-5 singles record, giving him a career mark of 50-30 over his four years as a Bobcat.

Since dropping her first two collegiate squash matches to highly ranked Cornell and Stanford, �ֲ���ý first-year Mimi Neal (Danvers, Mass.) has won seven straight matches at the No. 6 position, including four last week during the Bobcat women’s squash team’s 3-1 week.

Neal, who also had a standout season on the �ֲ���ý golf team in the fall, swept her opponents from Vassar, Wesleyan, Mount Holyoke and Franklin & Marshall last week, all by 3-0 scores. Dropping only three total points against Wesleyan and one against Mount Holyoke, her aggregate match score for the week was 108-3. She continued her run this week with a 3-0 win against Colby in which she again didn’t allow a single point.

Neal and the No. 12 �ֲ���ý women’s squash team (4-5) play at No. 5 Yale on Saturday, then take on No. 25 Connecticut College on Sunday at Yale.

Athletic teams at �ֲ���ý are on a brief hiatus for exams this week. Contests will resume on Jan. 3 with the women’s basketball team heading to Williamstown, Mass., for the Williams Tournament. But it’s been a tremendous first month of the winter sports season for the Bobcats, with several teams earning national recognition.

The women’s basketball team remains perfect through eight games this season, moving up to 16th in the D3hoops.com national poll on Tuesday. Olivia Zurek ’05 (Arlington, Mass.) scored her 1,000th career point in the team’s 61-37 win over the University of Southern Maine, ranked second nationally at the time.

The men’s basketball team has also gotten off to a hot start, posting a 9-1 record at the break. The Bobcats are the top-ranked team in Maine, and Brian Gerrity ’05 (Augusta, Maine) scored his 1000th career point in a win over Husson on Saturday.

Kelly Godsey ’06 (Parker, Colo.) opened the indoor track season with an impressive performance in the 20-lb. weight throw, breaking her own school record by three feet and one inch with an automatic national qualifying distance of 63-feet, 0.25-inches. Godsey posted a provisional qualifier in the shot put with a throw of 44-7.5. Scott Cooper ’05 (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Dustin Gauthier ’05 (Amherst, N.H) also hit provisional qualifiers in the 35-lb. weight throw to lead the men’s track and field team.

Both squash teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally after a solid start to the season. The women are ranked ninth and have a 5-1 record, sweeping four teams at the Wesleyan round robin by 9-0 scores. Gary Kan ’07 (Hong Kong) is ranked 44th as an individual to lead the men’s team, which is ranked 10th at 3-1.

Both swim teams have started the season 1-1, with two members of the women’s team hitting NCAA qualifiers. Kara Seaton ’05 (Wayne, Pa.) qualified for the 1-meter diving event with a score of 265.80, while Vanessa Williamson ’05 (Auburn, Maine) qualified provisionally for the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.26.

While the ski teams have been training for the last several weeks, the EISA schedule doesn’t begin until January. The Nordic team begins on Jan. 14 at the St. Michael’s Carnival, while the alpine season begins on Jan. 21 when �ֲ���ý hosts a carnival at Sunday River and Black Mountain.

For the latest sports news, scores and updates, visit the �ֲ���ý Athletics Web site.